Cork’s oldest hotel becomes the greenest
Cork’s most historic hotel has achieved a significant sustainability accolade with Fifty Shades Greener, the leading environmental education provider in Ireland.
The 206 year old Imperial Hotel, which is part of the Flynn Hotel Collection, has become the first and only hospitality venue in Cork to be awarded with a prestigious Gold Label.
Cork’s Grand Dame, as it’s fondly referred to, has invested close to €400,000 in a sustainability programme over the past 4 years, with ambitious future plans.
Fifty Shades Greener commended The Imperial for reducing its total C02kg/person/day by 21% in 2022 in comparison to 2019, for expanding and improving their green procurement with 67% of their food sourced locally, and for reducing meat and waste on their menus.
They also acknowledged that the Imperial has planted 200 trees year to date with Plant-It and Trees on the Land, and they are prioritising the incorporation of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals into their daily operations.
“We are shouting from the rooftops because we are so incredibly proud,” said a very happy Bastien Peyraud, General Manager at The Imperial.
“Our Imperial family works smart every day to ensure we become the most sustainable hotel.
“We are always looking for ways to reduce our footprint, care for and protect the environment, and give back to the communities we are part of. We are also engaging with the SEAI and hope to execute several larger projects over the next year. We are not only tasked with significantly reducing our carbon footprint, but we are also responsible for taking care of an historic building which has been a part of Cork City for over 200 years.”
Having taken over as general manager at The Imperial in 2019, the Lyon native and his dedicated ‘Green Team’ have implemented significant sustainability measures and initiatives with the aim of making the hotel carbon neutral hotel by 2025.
They also regularly calculate their Green Key Performance Indicators allowing accurate reporting.